Why Official Christianity Is Dying: This should be a good topic and it should provide a fair share of self soul searching.

Yankee Clipper

This should be a good topic and it should provide a fair share of self soul searching.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/05/why_official_christianity_is_dying.html

JFlorio Loc: Seminole Florida

My pastor tells us every week we can only be saved through the Grace of Jesus Christ by what he did at the cross for us. No amount of works entitle us into heaven.
On another note there might be something to reincarnation. Do you see the resemblance between stdnest and the Dodo Bird?

Yankee Clipper wrote:

This should be a good topic and it should provide a fair share of self soul searching.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/05/why_official_christianity_is_dying.html

Marcus Johnson

All humans are capable of doing both good and evil. It's just our nature.

I will never understand how an all knowing, all powerful, omnipresent god could create such a flawed creature as humans.

JFlorio Loc: Seminole Florida

Try reading the Bible and really going to a study group if you want to see how it all unfolds. Remember from the beginning man was given freedom of choice. What could possibly show an omnipresent beings love more than giving his creation freedom of choice. Otherwise we'd be robot's or Democrats.

Marcus Johnson wrote:

All humans are capable of doing both good and evil. It's just our nature.

I will never understand how an all knowing, all powerful, omnipresent god could create such a flawed creature as humans.

Blade_Runner Loc: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

JFlorio wrote:

My pastor tells us every week we can only be saved through the Grace of Jesus Christ by what he did at the cross for us. No amount of works entitle us into heaven.
On another note there might be something to reincarnation. Do you see the resemblance between stdnest and the Dodo Bird?

Quote:

Christianity is not dead. If the churches will not teach grace, home churches will.

This true for me and a small group of Christians here. We have weekly worship/Bible study meetings with communion and even live music sometimes. I left the Methodist church about 6 months ago when the Church conference director gave a talk here. Blew my mind.

Read The God I Never Knew, and The Power of Words, by pastor Robert Morris. Heady stuff.

Marcus Johnson

JFlorio wrote:

Try reading the Bible and really going to a study group if you want to see how it all unfolds. Remember from the beginning man was given freedom of choice. What could possibly show an omnipresent beings love more than giving his creation freedom of choice. Otherwise we'd be robot's or Democrats.

But if God is omniscient then already knew that Adam was going to eat the apple. So it wasn't truly a choice.

JFlorio Loc: Seminole Florida

That is the old chicken and egg argument which I can't solve. That my good person is called faith.

Marcus Johnson wrote:

But if God is omniscient then already knew that Adam was going to eat the apple. So it wasn't truly a choice.

Marcus Johnson

JFlorio wrote:

That is the old chicken and egg argument which I can't solve. That my good person is called faith.

Or the concept of an omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient deity is contradictory and self-refuting.

Possibly.

dwallace2015

The egg came first. The progenitors of birds, (lizards and reptiles) were using egg delivery systems long before birds evolved from them. Hence, eggs were here long before chickens.

Also, if God created everything in our cosmos, he also created and set loose evil among us. Also, if God is "all knowing", then God knew how everything was going to go ahead of time. Hence, really no "free will". Everything was preordained. Must be kind of boring knowing ahead of time how everything will turn out, since God was the author of the piece.

Marcus Johnson

dwallace2015 wrote:

The egg came first. The progenitors of birds, (li... (show quote)

:thumbup:

Why do Christians struggle with this simple concept?

Oh ....nevermind...

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

Yankee Clipper wrote:

This should be a good topic and it should provide a fair share of self soul searching.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/05/why_official_christianity_is_dying.html

That may be due to the fact that in the USA, according to the Constitution - there never was any official Christianity. There were only Christians and as far as I know - there still are.

Yankee Clipper

Marcus Johnson wrote:

But if God is omniscient then already knew that Adam was going to eat the apple. So it wasn't truly a choice.

That's like saying if I knew you were morally a bit shaky and I l left a $100o.00 bill out in the open to see if you really would do what I expected you to do. And you do, you steal it! Would that not be an over simplified example of omniscience? Does that mean that the taking of the $1000.00 was or was not truly a choice you made, or was it a choice I made for you? Be honest, Which is it?

Yankee Clipper

lpnmajor wrote:

That may be due to the fact that in the USA, according to the Constitution - there never was any official Christianity. There were only Christians and as far as I know - there still are.

The first line of the First Amendment as follows: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; I believe that explains how the Constitution views religion rather well. However each state or colony was free to have their preferred state religion it they so chose and some states did establish state preferred religions.

Sicilianthing

Marcus Johnson wrote:

All humans are capable of doing both good and evil. It's just our nature.

I will never understand how an all knowing, all powerful, omnipresent god could create such a flawed creature as humans.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

God said he would never interfere with Free Will of Men !

But I disagree with you on your first sentence.

That would only be true if every human being were brought into the age of awareness.

Marcus Johnson

Yankee Clipper wrote:

That's like saying if I knew you were morally a bit shaky and I l left a $100o.00 bill out in the open to see if you really would do what I expected you to do. And you do, you steal it! Would that not be an over simplified example of omniscience? Does that mean that the taking of the $1000.00 was or was not truly a choice you made, or was it a choice I made for you? Be honest, Which is it?

No actually, this would be about the contradictory nature of an omniscient entity.
Knowing in advance what his/her morally deficient creation would do.

If God already knows everything, then free will is an illusion.